Deadly Heart Gambit

Having experienced the vast open world of Atelier Yumia, it's time to return to a more straightforward and intimate title with Deadly Heart Gambit by Blink Hydrate. A visual novel and card game, you'll meet the cute and mysterious "Alice" who wants to play with you. Forever. And Ever. And ever...

You've been given three months to live and find yourself in a strange environment with Alice, who gives you the opportunity to win more time to live if you play her card game. The rules are simple - the deck has one suite of hearts and a Joker card. All you have to do is keep playing until one of you loses by pulling the Joker card. Once you win three months of life, Alice introduces a knife to the game, which you can use to stab the Joker card if you're sure that's the next card in the deck. Get it wrong and you'll lose one whole month of life.

I found the gameplay elements simple yet surprisingly addictive, a mix of memory and random luck that makes each draw more nerver racking than the last. You can pass a go if the card you play is one higher or lower than the last, effectively forcing Alice to draw unless she can do the same. I found the computer would try to pass more aggressively when the Joker was the next card in the deck, so that's a good clue as to what's coming, but after a while you'll get a good instinct and the game becomes fluid and enjoyable. 

Like any game, atmosphere is key, and Deadly Heart Game absolutely nails this, with atmospheric music, a simple colour palette but, most impressively, with Alice. Over the course of five chapters you'll converse (she does most of the talking) and her tale unfolds as you progress. There's a wonderful, other-worldly oddness to your host, who seems obsessed with human hearts, the concept of time and loneliness, which makes Alice a mesmerising hostess. You're given hints to her true nature and a sense of danger, it puts me in mind of Saya no Uta (Song of Saya) - is this a cute girl or a monster? Time will tell.

This is a simple game that should take an hour to run through, though I have to say I lost track of time and it felt like half that - all credit to the game for sucking me in so completely. I genuinely enjoyed my time with Alice, enough to want to play again after finishing the story, so I'd certainly recommend it if you enjoy stories with a creepy edge to them. For just over a fiver it's a worthwhile investment and if nothing else, I'm sure Alice would love to meet you.